Zipporah's First Book
by MiniMarauders
Summary: Poor Zipporah. She's been switched around from orphanage to orphanage...what will become of her? --Written by: Zipporah Cassandra Brooks--


Disclaimer: Harry Potter is © of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I am not making any money off this work of fanfiction; it is simply a fun thing for me to do, and hopefully enjoyable for you to read.  
  
~*~Dream sequence~*~  
  
I'm being rocked gently...oh so gently; I feel myself being lulled to sleep; the a voice in my ear gently whispers, "I'll sing you to sleep, my little one, I'll sing you the song my mother used to sing to me every night. Perhaps one day you'll sing it to your children...  
  
"There is a leaf on the tree, and it's swaying  
  
And sae girl 'neath the tree with tears in her eyes  
  
There's a wolf on the run and it's saying,  
  
'Where have ye gone,  
  
O where have ye gone sweet love of mine?  
  
O wind, cruel wind, brings an end, an end.  
  
To the storm that took me love before his time  
  
O wind, cruel wind, bring an end, and end  
  
I long for him, will ye bring me true love  
  
Back to me side?'  
  
There's a puddle on the ground and it's growing  
  
And sae girl above the pond with tears in her eyes  
  
There's a fox on the run and it's saying,  
  
'Where have ye gone?  
  
O where have ye gone sweet love of mine?  
  
There's a woman on the run saying  
  
Where have ye gone?  
  
Oh where have ye gone sweet love of mine?  
  
I long for you here  
  
Sweet love of mine.'  
  
Her voice is so magical...it's hypnotizing me...and just as I am on the very brink of sleep, I hear a huge bang.  
  
"Oh no! " my mother says.  
  
She jumps up with me clutched to her chest, and runs to my crib. Gently laying me down, she says, "I love you, little one, remember that. No matter what happens. I love you. " She kisses me tenderly on the cheek and turns toward the door. She walks across the room and out the door without a backward glance, shutting it firmly behind her...leaving me alone and frightened in the dark.  
  
I hear lots of noise coming from downstairs, and it's scaring me even worse. Then something that sounds like a huge explosion. Then screaming. And the screams are so heart wrenching. They're the screams of my mother.  
  
'What would make her scream like that?' I wonder?  
  
I was becoming even more frightened by the second. Then another bang and the screams are cut off abruptly.  
  
It's all-quiet, and suddenly, someone busts through my door.  
  
'Mommy!' I think. 'She's ok and she's come to get me!'  
  
The person is in the shadows, but I can feel the panic rising in me!  
  
'No, this isn't my mommy, or my daddy!'  
  
Although I could identify that this was a man. This man is evil, I can feel it. He begins to approach me ... slowly...  
  
'Oh! I wish he would leave me alone, I want my mommy! '  
  
He stops at my crib, and slowly stretches his hand over me. 'Where's daddy? He'll make this evil person go away! '  
  
I've started crying now and I'm terrified. It's finally hit me: I'll never see my parents ever again.  
  
'What is this person going to do with me?' I wonder.  
  
All the sudden there are this huge flash of light, and laughter...laughter that's filled with hate and triumph. It fills my head and soul and it breaks my heart. The very air seems to vibrate with it. Everything goes dark...  
  
~*~End of Dream sequence~*~  
  
I jerked awake suddenly with my heart pounding and that laughter ringing in my ears. I've had that dream so much, almost every night for as long as I can remember, and it makes no sense at all. Because, you see, I've been an orphan all my life, and I have no memories that would provoke that kind of nightmare. You'd think I'd get used to it after having it all my life, but it terrifies me every time!  
  
'But what if,' I wonder, 'these are subconscious memories and that really happened to me!'  
  
This thought started my mind in a two-sided debate with itself:  
  
My logical side: You git! When have you ever heard of anything like that happening to anyone?  
  
My other side: You never know! No one knows what happened to my parents!  
  
My logical side: and know one ever will! It's just your overactive imagination!  
  
My other side: But what if no one has said anything to protect me from the truth! And I do not have an over-active imagination.... At least, not TOO overactive.  
  
The logical side: Just face it: your parents might as well have not existed. Like I said: no one knows what happened to him or her and know one will ever find out. Well, if my imagination isn't overactive, then maybe I shouldn't have eaten that peanut butter Mayo sandwich right before bed! "  
  
"Oh my gosh!" I said to myself aloud. "Zipporah Cassandra Brooks! Get a hold on yourself! Criminy! It was only a dream!"  
  
I FINALLY got my brain to shut-up for a few seconds! It tends to kind of...umm...carried away...very fast without me! Lots of people think this is very annoying. Also considering I have an average attention span of...ooh... about 2 seconds! I sighed and looked at the clock. It read 7:00, about an hour before I had to get up. "Oh well, I'm not going to get back to sleep anyway, might as well get up and get ready!"  
  
I got up and walked across the room as quietly as I could, trying not to wake up everyone else in the room. I shared this room with 3 other girls. I really don't like any of them. But then again, I never really associated with any of them. I've found the key to handle moving from orphanage to orphanage is just not to get attached to anyone emotionally, so I've just kept to myself and never made friends. It works best for me that way.  
  
I slipped out the door and closed it softly behind me, then bound down the steps to the bathroom making sure to skip the 6 and 3 steps .  
  
I went into the bathroom thinking, "Good , it's empty!"  
  
I hated sharing the bathroom with anybody since there were only two places at the sink and it's always a battle to get a spot. Especially with all the older girls who stand there and put on make-up for hours upon hours.  
  
'As if the rest of us don't need the mirror!' I thought.  
  
'Not to mention,' I continued, 'It's pretty hard to find a place without cracks all over it! Actually, the whole bathroom is in terrible condition."  
  
I thought as I gazed around at the bathroom. The bathroom was just barely big enough to be considered slightly bigger than a broom closet. There was one wall with the cracked mirror and a sink whose faucets and pipes were being kept together with masking tape. Off to the corner, behind a dirty gray curtain is the "toilet" which is , in reality , just a big pot (And trust me, from experience, trying to pee without a seat it a feat that takes SKILL!). Then on the far wall is a tiny window that was letting in very meager amount of the gray, early morning light.  
  
"Yes siree! This sure is the life!"I said sarcastically.  
  
This is by far the worst orphanage I've had to endure yet.  
  
'Why did it have to happen? Hilltop was the best place,' I thought. 'No, I won't think about it...it's just too painful.  
  
All I will say is that Hilltop was my previous orphanage, and that I was very happy there. But then it happened...  
  
I picked up the brush and started brushing my very curly dark brown hair. I tried to stop them, but the memories began to wash over me ...overwhelm me.  
  
**Flashback 1** This was the third orphanage this month, and I seriously doubt the last. As walked through the door, I immediately noticed that this was the nicest orphanage I had ever seen! It resembled a large house; the foyer in which I now stood was a homey size with a staircase going up one side, a hallway beside it, and various closed doors from which I heard the sounds of children's laughter. There was wood flooring where I was standing, and starting at the hallway the floor was covered with thick pale green carpet. The whole place was in colors of pale green blues yellow's and white. I loved Hilltop at once, and for the first time I felt like I was home.  
  
As I was taking all this in, a large motherly women came walking down the hall . She had black hair that was starting to gray at the temples. Her eyes were brown and kind, and she was wearing only a pair of faded jeans and a sweater.  
  
"Oh hello, poppet! You must be Zipphora!" she said as she walked toward me, immediately sweeping me up a big hug. "I'm so sorry that you've had to move around so much, but I promise you this'll be the last time. You will love it here! "She gave me a final reassuring squeeze and released me.  
  
"Oh! How rude of me!" she said with a small smile on her face. "I got so caught up in the moment that I completely forget to introduce myself! You may call me Mrs. Hildebranch!"  
  
"It's very nice to meet you," I said shyly.  
  
"Now what can I do with my umm..." I trailed off and gestured toward my bag.  
  
She looked down at it as if she had just noticed it.  
  
"Oh yes, well... you can just take them on upstairs to your room. Yours is the second on the right!"  
  
And that night, as I was settling down in my new room for bed, I was perfectly contented for the first time in my life. I mean, why shouldn't I be? This place was great! For the first time I felt as if I could get to know people and I had already made some new friends. They fed me good, and I even had a room all to myself. This was a first: a room all my own that seemed to be made just for me, with its dark blue and green colors. There was a full length mirror with a dresser in one corner, then in another a big chair and a book case. My bed was huge and comfy, with lots of pillows, just the way I liked it. I even had my own bathroom and everything! It was like...well...being home, and it felt so good. I turned off the light, snuggled into my pillows, and drifted into a peaceful sleep.  
  
**End of Flashback 1**  
  
Wow, that place sure was different from this place. I can't even guarantee that they'll feed me every day! And Mrs. Hildebranch...she became like my mother. You see, Hilltop was the first wizard orphanage I went to. It all happened one night while I was lying in bed in a London Muggle orphanage worse than this place. I thought I heard something outside, so I went to investigate. Well, to make a long story short, Hagrid was out there. He told me that I was a witch and that he had come to take me to orphanage for wizards and witches, where I belonged.  
  
And all the sudden, I found myself uprooted once again after about two and a half years at Hilltop. I made some really great friends there, especially Kyle. Just the thought of his name made the memories spring up even faster.  
  
'NO!' I thought viciously, I' will NOT think about him!'  
  
I started brushing even harder. But there's nothing you can do to stop memories, even painful ones, so they came anyway.  
  
**Flashback 2**  
  
I was nine going on 10 years old, and I was running around the yard just having fun, when I tripped.  
  
"Whoa!" I cried as I went flying, hitting my head on a root. It hurt badly. I just sat there stunned for the longest time, blood started dripping down my face. That scared me to death, and I started crying.  
  
As I was sitting there, this boy walked up, he only looked like he was about a year older than me, maybe.  
  
"What's wrong?' he asked me, sitting down and putting his arm around me. He looked concerned.  
  
"I h-hit my head, a-and now I'm bleed-d-ing to death!!!" I sobbed. By now I was crying so hard that I was hiccupping. I really did think I was going to die! "C-can you hel-p me-e?" I asked him.  
  
He let go and stood up. "Sure!" He lent me his hand and pulled me up. "Just lean on me. Try not to get blood all over me though!"  
  
This got a small smile out of me. That's the way Kyle always was. No matter what was wrong, he could help ease the pain.  
  
"T-thank-k you." I sniffled.  
  
He just shrugged and we made our way to the building. Once we got there he took me to the bathroom "Sit down over there." He instructed me, pointing to the toilet. "And blow your nose!"  
  
He turned around to get alcohol, Neosporin, and bandages out of the cabinet. He turned back around. "This won't hurt too bad," he said. "Just try to think of other things. Happy things. Then it doesn't hurt as much!"  
  
I was sitting there cringing waiting for some more pain, but it never came.  
  
"There! All finished!"he told me.  
  
I opened one eye and squinted up at him "Is that it?"  
  
He smiled at me. "Yup!"  
  
'Wow ... he's kind of cute!' I thought.  
  
I was appalled at myself! 'Zipporah Cassandra! What are you talking about?! He's a BOY!!!  
  
At this thought, I blushed furiously.  
  
'Thank goodness he's busy with his back turned, or that could have gotten a little messy!' I thought.  
  
When he turned around, I was so afraid that my feelings showed on my face. Because he was kind of giving me a funny look.  
  
To cover up the fact that I had been thinking this, I said, "You know, boys have cooties!"  
  
He kinda gave me this weird look and half smiled. All he said was: "I forgot to tell you, my name is Kyle Brandich. What's your name?"  
  
Zipporah Cassandra Brooks," I said and smiled back.  
  
It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.  
  
**End of Flashback 2**  
  
I hadn't realized it, but tears had started rolling slowly down my cheek, and I was practically ripping my hair out by the roots. "OW!" I exclaimed. "Criminy, all this pain and it still looks like a rat's nest!!!!"  
  
I threw my brush down and leaned over the sink. I was practically sobbing now. I needed to get a hold on myself.  
  
Kyle was the reason I didn't want to settle down here and can't...I just can't...  
  
'O my gosh! I miss Kyle so much!' I thought as I sobbed. 'Now I'll never see him again! Never, never!'  
  
"Never..." I whispered.  
  
I drew a steadying breath and looked my reflection head on. Sad turquoise eyes in a aquiline face stared back at me.  
  
'But I am 11 this year finally, and that means I get to go to Hogwarts!'  
  
I finally smiled at that thought, and pushed Kyle out of my mind.  
  
"That reminds me...it's probably here by now..."  
  
I ran out of the bathroom and up the steps, not bothering to skip the creaky ones this time. I burst into the room where my room mates were just waking up.  
  
"Good morning!" I said, not expecting an answer, and not getting one (my room mates aren't really morning people!). I ran to the window, just as my owl, Cranberries flew up.  
  
"Hey there darling, what have we got here?"  
  
She stuck out her leg so I could untie the letter tied there.  
  
"Thank you, now go get some rest." I told her, as I slipped her into her cage and shut the door.  
  
I looked at the letter. The front read:  
  
Minerva McGonagall  
  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
  
England   
  
Miss Zipporah Cassandra Brooks  
  
Lancaster County Orphanage  
  
For Witches and Wizards  
  
300 York ST  
  
Lancaster County, England  
  
My heart skipped a beat. Here it was finally! And I flipped it over and broke the seal, and had the greatest feeling that there were great things to come, too great for me to imagine now. 


End file.
